


The Promposal

by whiteicelily



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: (formerly), Alternate Universe - High School, Enemies to Lovers, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Idiots in Love, M/M, No Angst, No Smut, Popular Kids, Prom, but allusions to spiciness, dramatics for no reason, side nomin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:27:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25935907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiteicelily/pseuds/whiteicelily
Summary: Jeno eyes him curiously. “Is that why you’re taking this so seriously? Since everyone still thinks that you and Mark hate each other’s guts?”Donghyuck smirks. “Exactly. Which is why I need to make a show of it, since I’ve managed to snag our school’s resident ‘Golden Boy,’ after all.”(Or: Donghyuck is stuck on how to ask his boyfriend to prom, especially since said boyfriend and him are supposed to be mortal enemies, have hated each other for the better part of four years, and just so happens to be the two most popular students in school)
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 12
Kudos: 270





	The Promposal

**Author's Note:**

> \- I said I’d come back with <5k and this is almost 6k so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ good enough
> 
> \- This AU has been living rent-free in my head for months now and is actually very well thought-out and fully-plotted, but every time I think of writing the whole thing (which includes scenes for every year of high school) I get a brain fart and so I can only do it scene by scene if/when the inspo hits RIP
> 
> \- Welp, as always enjoy idiots in love and thanks for reading!!

“Okay, okay, I got it - I jump out of a giant cake, ergo, everything is cake.”

He pauses for a reaction. When none comes, he leans over to slap the Adidas-covered lump curled up on his floor.

“Ouch!” Jeno yowls, glaring at Donghyuck as he rubs his thigh, pouting. “What was that for, you turd?!”

“For being useless, dunghead! I feed you, I clothe you, and you can’t even spare a single brain cell in that dumb jock head of yours to help your best friend forever in his time of need.”

“You giving me a half-eaten bag of chips and lending me the sweatshirt you stole from my closet in the first place hardly counts,” Jeno rolls his eyes. “And angsting over a zero-world crisis does not count as a _need_.”

“I know you don’t get it with your antisocial ass-”

“Just because I’m not loud and annoying doesn’t make me antisocial-”

“-but this can literally make or break my entire high school career-”

“-if you peak in high school you’re definitely doing something wrong-”

“-so it has to be big-”

“-it’s less than ten words, max, including full names-”

“-and I have to do it right because-”

“-you just have to say them out loud-”

“-of the principle of the thing!” Donghyuck wails dramatically, flailing his hands. Jeno quickly ducks away, muttering something that sounds suspiciously like “theatre kids” under his breath. 

Donghyuck huffs, fuming with passion. “The act of asking someone to prom is a time-honored tradition, _Mr. Lee_ , one that becomes your legacy to generations of students to come.”

Jeno shoots him a deadpan look. “Pretty sure your legacy, _Mr. Lee_ , is forever cemented as that time you burned down the chem lab.”

“ _Almost_ burned down the chem lab,” Donghyuck corrects. He sniffs. “And is it really my fault that bunsen burners are so flammable?”

“It’s your fault for being so flammable next to one, doing who-knows-what with your equally-flammable boyfriend.”

“What can I say…” Donghyuck trails off, switching gears to wiggle his eyebrows suggestively, delighting in Jeno’s increasingly disgusted expression. “We have...chemistry.”

“Please spare me the cringe,” Jeno moans, waving his hand as though to clear the air of bad puns. “Popularity is wasted on the dumb.”

“Popularity is wasted on the pretty,” Donghyuck sings, dragging himself up and over to drop his head into Jeno’s lap. “We’re still the school’s two most eligible bachelors, after all.”

Jeno eyes him curiously. “Is that why you’re taking this so seriously? Since everyone still thinks that you and Mark hate each other’s guts?”

Donghyuck smirks. “Exactly. Which is why I need to make a show of it, since I’ve managed to snag our school’s resident ‘Golden Boy,’ after all.”

“Right...well, knowing you and your melodramatic ass, I’m guessing a simple sign is not gonna cut it.”

“They don’t call me the ‘Drama King’ for nothing, my sweet Jeno. And damn straight, not unless you can see it from space.”

“Figures,” Jeno sighs, reaching over to grab the bag of chips. Now it’s Donghyuck’s turn to be disgusted as Jeno shovels in a fistful, crumbs raining down onto the floor as he talks. “Let’s just ask Jaemin, he knows people and he’s nosy.”

The answer is loud and immediate. “No.”

“Do you have a better idea?”

“....”

“We’re doing it.”

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

Mark slams his computer screen down when Donghyuck walks into the room.

“Ohh…” Donghyuck trills from where he pauses just inside the door, eyebrows shooting up. “Whatcha lookin’ at there?”

“Nothing” Mark retorts, eyes darting around suspiciously as he avoids Donghyuck’s gaze. Donghyuck startles when his boyfriend hastily stands from the desk in the corner, scuttling to the bed. “It’s nothing important.”

Donghyuck narrows his eyes and peers at the laptop, still humming slightly, before joining Mark on the bed. He folds his legs up, sitting cross-legged, and watches as the other boy makes a big show of digging through his bag, unearthing a mountain of notebooks and paper. “You know” he starts casually, “you don’t have to be embarrassed about watching porn.”

Mark sputters, arm still extended into his bag’s seemingly-endless abyss. “I-I wasn’t looking at porn!”

“It’s okay, we’ve all been curious about gay porn at least once.”

“No dude,” Mark sighs, dragging a hand down his face and looking far too embarrassed for someone who’s in a committed relationship and has gone as far as they have. “It-it wasn’t porn... I-I’m working on a new piece and it’s not ready yet.”

“Oh, a new song?” Mark nods. “I know you don’t want our school finding out that you’re _that_ rapper on SoundCloud and all, but you don’t have to hide it from me.”

“Yeah,” Mark says, but there’s an unreadable expression on his face. “It’s just - this piece is special to me...and I’m not ready to share it yet, with y-” His eyes go wide. “I mean, with-with anyone.”

Donghyuck’s eyebrows shoot up. “Well, I’m sure your legions of ‘minions’ will love anything you put out” he boasts confidently, aggressively reassuring. “And besides, even if they don't, no one knows who you are anyways.”

Mark barks a laugh. “Yeah,” he agrees, moving to rub the back of his neck. He’s got a faraway look in his eyes, and there’s a pause before he mumbles his next words, said so softly that Donghyuck nearly misses them. “But it’s not their opinion that I care about this time.”

Donghyuck opens his mouth to ask what he’s talking about but finds that it’s suddenly covered, the bed creaking ominously as hands slide to the back of his neck to pull him into a heated kiss, head tilting and breaths growing more desperate.

Seconds turn into minutes turn into hours and Donghyuck completely forgets what he wanted to ask, his mouth being otherwise happily preoccupied.

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

A plastic cafeteria tray slams onto the table in front of him, its contents rattling noisily. He can’t see the thousand-watt smile but he can definitely sense it. “Go away.”

“Nuh uh, a little birdy told me you’re desperate, which, we been knew.”

Donghyuck doesn’t look up from the Overwatch playthrough video he’s streaming on his phone. “And does that little birdy sound anything like a ‘Wee Minnow?’”

“Off the record,” Jaemin says airily, plopping down into the seat across from Donghyuck. “But he did say something like ‘do something about the dumbass or else I’ll cancel the whole event myself.’”

“He can’t do that, he doesn’t have the power.”

“Well, given his boyfriend is the right-hand man of the student body president, I’d say it’s not impossible” Jaemin smirks.

Donghyuck finally looks up, narrowing his eyes at the smug grin beaming back at him. “You wouldn’t do that to me,” he threatens.

“True,” Jaemin pretends to think, tapping his chin in thought. “But you see, I wouldn’t do that _to_ you - I’d do it _for_ him. So if I were you, I’d start spilling the tea real fast before that little birdy can get his hands on me again later on today.”

“Ugh, fine” Donghyuck groans, planting his face down on the table in defeat. “Please help me, oh great VP Nana.”

Jaemin’s smile turns cheshire. “That’s more like it,” he purrs, crossing his arms like a bad-rate movie villain.

Donghyuck rolls his eyes. “Even if I ask you for help, there’s not much you can do,” he accuses, sniffing. “It’s not like you can think of anything we haven’t already thought of before.”

“You’re right,” Jaemin agrees, serene. “But I also think you’re overthinking it.”

“What - are you gonna be like your useless boyfriend and tell me to ‘just ask him?’”

“Nooo” Jaemin drags out, “Jeno has no talent for theatrics, he’s a jock after all. The most considerate, caring, and _cute_ jock, but a jock nonetheless.” Donghyuck opens his mouth to deliver a sarcastic reply but Jaemin jumps back in before he can. “But - I do think if you make it too complicated, you’ll lose the sentiment. Plus, whatever big production you can think of has probably already been done by some equally over-dramatic high-schooler elsewhere, so there’s always something to live up to.”

Donghyuck huffs, deciding to latch onto the last part of that statement. “I can do it.”

“I know, I know, they don’t call you the ‘Drama King’ for nothing,” Jaemin says, waving his hands dismissively. “But it’s not just about you, and our ‘Golden Boy’ has always been a bit of an old-school romantic.”

“Okay, fine,” Donghyuck relents, deflating. “What do you suggest then? I know you came over here with an idea and this is all just a long-winded way of getting me to agree to it.”

“I suggest,” Jaemin hums, not denying it. His eyes gleam, which instantly gives Donghyuck a bad feeling, unsurprising given he feels this exact same way half the time Jaemin opens his mouth. “That you keep it simple, stupid.” 

Donghyuck raises a disbelieving eyebrow, and Jaemin’s smile only grows wider, in tandem with the creeping, churning sensation in Donghyuck’s gut. “It’s time to go back to basics.”

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

Going back to basics apparently means a sign. A literal, physical sign.

“This, this is why I didn’t want to involve the devil,” Donghyuck says, waving his hands at the massive sheet of hot pink construction paper currently assaulting his eyes.

Jeno walks in, cradling a gallon tub of silver glitter and multi-pack of extra-thick Sharpies as said devil excitedly hops around the room, unraveling the paper on the floor.

Jeno shrugs, eyeing the garish color. “Well...you did say you wanted to be able to see it from space.”

Donghyuck pinches the bridge of his nose, breathing in deep to exhale in a long-suffering sigh. He then straightens up with resolve and claps, determined. “We’re not doing this.”

“Too late” Jaemin sings, brimming with satisfaction as he finally manages to lay out all the paper, ridiculously wide and so long that the ends of it curl halfway up the walls. “We asked for these as a special favor from the theatre crew and there’s no giving them back.”

Donghyuck pauses at the mention of his people. “Who did you get them from?” He asks, slowly, already dreading the answer.

“Joy.”

He wages a silent war in his head for a few seconds, standing frozen in defiance, before his self-preservation instincts ultimately kick in and he drops to the floor, sighing in defeat. Jaemin smirks, a knowing look on his face.

“Fine,” Donghyuck says petulantly, reaching for the markers. “But if we’re going to be doing arts and crafts, we should’ve invited Renjun,” he mutters, choosing to be difficult anyways.

“Ohh good idea, Jaemin agrees excitedly, hand already fully submerged in glitter. “Babe-”

“Already on it,” Jeno answers, phone to his ear.

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

mark_me_in_your_heart: hey, can you come to the tv room on friday morning?

fullsun: y

mark_me_in_your_heart: I need to give the end of year updates

fullsun: ok and what does that have to do w/ me???

mark_me_in_your_heart: I need someone to hold the cue cards

fullsun: arent there ppl there to do that?

mark_me_in_your_heart: yeah but I’m nervous since it’s my last year aha

mark_me_in_your_heart: and having you there would make me feel a lot better

mark_me_in_your_heart: it won’t be more than 10 min promise

fullsun: aww

fullsun: is our prezzie gettin shy

mark_me_in_your_heart: hyuckkk

fullsun: cute <333

fullsun: but ok

fullsun: ill have to come to school a lil earlier but i should be able to make it work

fullsun: will let you know

mark_me_in_your_heart: thanks hyuckie, i really appreciate it

mark_me_in_your_heart: can’t wait to see you

fullsun: 😘

mark_me_in_your_heart: we still on for after school today?

fullsun: yeah

fullsun: ill see you soon baby 😘😘😘

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

nana: ive got it

nana: ive connected the dots

fullsun: u didnt connect shit

nana: ive connected them (・`ω´・ ○)

nana: i figured out when we should do the do

fullsun: u couldve worded that literally any other way

fullsun: but go off i guess

nana: fri morn

nana: he will be on tv

nana: our tv i mean, the morning show 4 the school

fullsun: i know that already dumbass

fullsun: he told me himself

nana: yah yah but do you see how PERFECT IT IS

nana: he will be caught off guard

nana: itll just be you and him 

nana: and i guess us and the tv ppl there, but there’s only like, 2 of them

nana: intimate in person but broadcasted

nana: so u can have ur audience but still make it romantic!!! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧.

fullsun: ok but

fullsun: what if he says no

fullsun: like what if he rejects me 

fullsun: and it’s in front of the whole school

nana: then play it off as a prank

nana: everyone still thinks you hate each other anyways

nana: so itll be like a joke

fullsun: it wont be a joke to me 😭😭😭

nana: yah what wer you doin yday

nana: or more exactly, who

fullsun: ...

nana: exactly. you guys are insufferable 

nana: theres no way he’s gonna reject you

nana: or else my name isnt best smile, voted 4 years in a row

fullsun: wut does that have to do w anything

nana: nothin just a flex you know

nana: but anyways

nana: you got any better idea???

fullsun: ...

nana: v(￣∇￣)

nana: we’re doin it

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

The two juniors look up when he walks in, staring at him with wide-eyed wonder.

“Hey Chenle, Jisung,” he greets casually, stepping into the room.

Chenle beams at him from where he’s currently perched on the news anchor desk, legs swinging happily. “Hey Drama King, what are you doing here?”

Donghyuck shrugs. “Free labor apparently,” he says, before looking around the mostly-empty room in confusion. “Speaking of, where’s-”

“Here,” comes a wheeze from behind him, the newcomer clearly out of breath as he stumbles through the door. “Sorry, Jaemin stopped me in the council room and forced a comb on me, said something about how it was my last formal announcement and all…”

Donghyuck’s eyes rove up to the usual nest on Mark’s head, and it does look like an attempt was made to tame it today, cowlick patted down but stubbornly fighting to spring free. There’s a slight sheen to Mark’s lips as well, reflective even in the crappy fluorescent lighting.

Mark catches him staring and leans in, whispering. “He forced lip balm on me as well, I don’t know why.”

Donghyuck can pretty much guess why, and he mentally scoffs at Jaemin’s overenthusiastic meddling before shoving Mark further into the room. “Yeah, yeah, let’s just get this over with, ‘Golden Boy.’”

Mark blinks, eyebrows shooting up before he registers the two juniors staring at them, one amused and one clearly nervous. “Uhh, right well” he says, clearing his throat, “I guess we’ll get on with it. It sucks that you’re the one who has to do this,” he tacks on as an afterthought.

Donghyuck forces his expression to stay neutral as Mark snarks at him, falling into their old routine but bearing none of the heat or sincerity of the old days. Between the random verbal barbs he sporadically and robotically jabs at Donghyuck, Mark walks him through the agenda, reaching into his bag to unearth a thick stack of stiff cardstock. Each card is printed with a different announcement, font smaller than should be readable from a distance. The pile sits heavy in Donghyuck’s hands, feeling like at least half an hour’s worth of material.

“You said this wouldn’t take more than ten minutes” he says accusingly, only half for the act.

Mark smiles ruefully. “I’ll try to talk fast,” he says, sounding far too sincere. 

He moves to sit behind the anchor desk, Chenle hopping off to join him to discuss the technicalities of when to transition. Jisung stands behind the camera, adjusting the lens, and Donghyuck positions himself next to him, as close to the camera as possible but still behind it.

After a few minutes of last minute prep, they finally near the top of the hour. Jisung starts to loudly count down from ten, switching to using his fingers at three, and the tv monitor in the room blinks before there’s the sound of a cheery opening sequence.

A mini red bulb on Jisung’s camera starts blinking, and he makes a large hand motion before ending it abruptly.

They’re on.

Chenle beams at the camera, nearly vibrating in his seat as he launches into the morning greetings, smile never faltering. Even Donghyuck is bowled over by the infectious energy that the junior is exuding, finding that he’s already unconsciously grinning in response.

Chenle powers through the daily announcements and reminders, finally turning to the guest seated at his side. Mark, in contrast, is much more subdued but no less captivating as he smiles and laughs at Chenle’s overly-flattering introduction. Sitting straight-backed and radiating an air of quiet confidence, he looks every bit the part of a dutiful student body president. 

Mark thanks Chenle with a smile and last self-deprecating handwave before turning to face the camera, eyes drifting to Donghyuck’s hands. Donghyuck hoists the cue cards up, keeping a close eye on Mark as he starts reading.

They fall into a steady cadence, Mark soldiering through the announcements and managing to sound casual despite reading word for word what is printed on the cards in Donghyuck’s hands.

It’s probably due to the laser focus he has on his boyfriend, watching for cues to cycle to the next card, that he realizes Mark really wasn’t lying about being nervous. To anyone else, Mark appears to be completely composed, exuding a relaxed aura as he addresses the camera, showcasing his natural likability.

But a year of getting to know Mark intimately ( _and admittedly several years of being obsessed with him in a whole different context before that_ ) has made Donghyuck much more cognizant of the small, clearly overlooked, nearly nonexistent nuances in body language which belie Mark’s carefully crafted composure.

Donghyuck subtly moves the cue cards up higher and closer to his face, positioning the tops of them right underneath his eyes. He stares into Mark’s eyes, urging the other boy to see him instead of just the words on the paper. It seems to work because he sees Mark’s shoulders drop infinitesimally, his knuckles uncurling slightly from where they’re folded on the table even as Mark’s voice continues on, steady as ever in their unwavering clarity.

Keeping to his promise in a way that both surprises and greatly impresses Donghyuck, Mark manages to get through all of the announcements in ten minutes, never faltering from his smooth tone and steady rhythm. He finishes reading through the last card and stops, voice taking on a note of finality. Donghyuck lowers the stack of cards in his hands and moves to drop them onto the floor, surreptitiously shooting Mark a thumbs-up and a small smile when he straightens up again.

He turns to Chenle, expecting the junior to take back over to end the announcements and close the show. Except Chenle is still looking at Mark, leaning on the desk with an expectant expression on his face. Jisung doesn’t pan the camera back either, the lens still firmly trained on Mark as the mini indicator light blinks steadily. 

Mark, whose gaze is firmly trained on Donghyuck.

Donghyuck freezes, frowning, looking around at the three figures equally frozen around him. A thought creeps into his head that he somehow missed a card, dropping them prematurely and cutting Mark off from whatever he needed to close with. Eyes widening, he’s about to reach down to pick up the thick stack of card stock from the floor again when there’s the sound of someone clearing their throat, ringing out loudly in the now silent room.

“And now,” Mark says, voice small, “I’d like to make an announcement of my own.”

Donghyuck straightens up slowly, turning to Jisung, but the younger boy merely shrugs, eyeing the camera. Mark is slowly unfolding his hands on the table.

“This may come as a surprise to many of you,” he starts, gaze flitting down to the table briefly before raising to address the camera directly. “But it’s time that you all should know.” His eyebrows lower, lips pursing slightly in thought. “I _want_ you all to know.”

Donghyuck is increasingly confused to the point of being thoroughly lost now, heart racing for unknown reasons, and he mouths a frantic “ _what are you doing”_ to Mark but his boyfriend doesn’t catch it, eyes dropped to the table again as he gathers himself.

Donghyuck holds his breath as Mark sucks in a large breath, steeling his shoulders.

And begins to rap.

He spits verse after verse, shedding his initial nervousness every passing second, voice growing louder in tandem with the size of his hand motions as he becomes more self-assured in his flow, which is steady, rhythmic, and never off-beat even in the dead quiet of the room. 

Donghyuck watches him in shock, jaw dropped. It should be the cringiest thing he’s ever seen, the cringiest thing _anyone’s_ ever seen - a guy rapping to no music live in front of their entire school. The appropriate response would be to cover his face in second-hand embarrassment. 

But it’s not cringey, it’s mesmerizing, because Mark is good, always has been, and the only response he can muster is to gape at his boyfriend, no thoughts, head empty.

If Donghyuck wasn’t already speechless, he certainly would be when the sounds sluggishly filtering from his ears to his brain like a confuzzled fish through a long, underwater tunnel finally registers and he realizes that the lyrics Mark is rapping are all about _him_ \- about _them_. 

> _What's scary is the way you talk_

It’s a chronicle of their entire convoluted relationship, starting from when Mark first transferred to their middle school and Donghyuck’s initial teasing (innocuous, at the time) was taken the wrong way and inadvertently caused him to start loathing Donghyuck with his entire soul.

> _I caught attention seeking illness because of you_

When that hatred was returned twofold their first year of high school, when Mark went after, and stole away, the one thing Donghyuck had wanted the most (at the time). 

> _I'm gonna bother you till the day is over_

When the animosity between them nearly escalated to a physical fight in their second year. 

> _I want you to hit me and kick me, ruin me_

When the animosity between them _did_ escalate to a physical fight in their third year, only stopping as a result of tears (not theirs, Jeno’s).

> _When I'm with you, danger seems like a good thing_

When the fight ended and they both came out of it bloody and bruised, but riding a high like neither of them had ever known before.

> _My focus, my control is all you, uh oh_

When they started seeking out more of that high, against both their best interests and the wishes of their friends, always ending up with a mosaic of bruises all over their bodies.

> _But the problem is, I don't hate it, oh no_

When those bruises began to show up on their mouths as well.

> _Maybe I might fall more deeply into you_

When those bruises began to show up _only_ on their mouths. 

They’ve put each other through hell and back, all of their own doing, and came out bruised and battered but miraculously whole and together on the other side.

Mark stares into Donghyuck’s eyes for every word, every verse, voice steady and unwavering, firm with conviction but warm with affection. He leans forward on the desk and Donghyuck finds that he’s gravitated closer as well, always polar opposites drawn to each other.

> _Someday I’ll ask you the most important question of all, you see_
> 
> _How happy I know we can be, trust in you and me,_
> 
> _But until you are mine forever, be mine for a night_
> 
> _Will you go to prom with me, Donghyuck Lee?_

The rap ends, silence overtaking the room once more. Mark bites his lip, body language open and vulnerable, tips of his ears starting to redden as he waits for a response. Jisung stands stock still, eyes wide as he grips the camera loosely. Chenle has his palm over his mouth, visibly turning a concerning shade of purple.

And Donghyuck, Donghyuck feels like he’s about to pass out.

His head is spinning, the vision of Mark in front of him the only thing in focus as he tries to re-engage the nerves in his body. One thing is definitely not working, and that is the connection between his mind and his mouth, which he reckons is still on the floor, gaping soundlessly open even as his mind erupts in chaos. 

The shock is just too much to recover from, and he realizes with a sinking feeling that the silence has definitely dragged on for too long when he catches Mark’s face falling just the tiniest amount.

“Hyu-”

“Wait!” Donghyuck blurts, panicking. He clears his throat, feeling it grow tight, unable to unsettle the lump, his eyes shining too bright, “I-”

But he doesn’t get to finish his incoherent thought, the door to the small room suddenly slamming open and crashing into the wall, causing all of them to jump terribly and startling Chenle so bad he shrieks. A loud cracking fills the air, and all he can see is a massive wall of hot pink as it’s roughly pushed inside, blinding them with its garishness and exorbitant amount of sparkles.

“Surprise!” a voice crows, head popping up behind the sign to reveal Jaemin flashing his trademark high-beams. “Baby lion, will you do the honor of taking baby pudu-”

Chenle screams again, Donghyuck eyeing the scene with horror as Mark gapes, now being the one who is rendered speechless. Jisung is still frozen, eyes darting around furiously as though unsure what or who to focus on.

Another head pokes out as well to reveal Jeno, surveying the shocked faces in the room around him, eyebrows furrowing. “Uhh…”

Jaemin turns to him, then whips his head to Donghyuck, growing confused. “Wait...what’s going on? We’d been waiting outside for the past half hour and it finally got quiet so it seemed like the perfect time for us to come in but you all look like you’ve just seen a gho-” his last words are muffled as Jeno suddenly reaches over to cover his mouth, Jaemin sputtering against his hand.

Chenle is still screaming, which Donghyuck belatedly realizes is actually very loud, very high-pitched laughing. The junior looks like he’s one second away from falling to the floor or fainting, cheeks ruddy with laughter as he howls in his seat.

Jisung, in contrast, seems to have recovered somewhat. “Wait, wait,” he blurts, face scrunching up. “This is a lot to take in.” He shakes his head in disbelief, looking like a startled puppy, then points an accusing finger at Mark. “You’re SoundCloud rapper lil_minion?”

There’s a startled laugh. “Uh, yeah, I guess?”

“Whoa man, you’re a local legend,” Jisung breaths, eyes comically wide, before unceremoniously whipping his finger to Donghyuck. “And our president-Mark-slash-SoundCloud-minion is dating our school’s ‘Drama King?’”

“Uh, surprise?”

Chenle cackles delightedly. “The ‘Golden Boy’ and the ‘Drama King,’ the honor student and the star of all of our shows! You guys’ rivalry is legendary, but now you’re lovers? Ohmygod, it’s a living, breathing, enemies-to-lovers trope” he wheezes. 

Mark is sputtering, blush in full bloom. “I-I didn’t mean for it to be a big deal, or anything, I just thought it was time people knew” he says, rubbing the back of his reddening neck. Donghyuck notes with no small amount of fondness that he’s looking less and less like the uptight student body president and upstanding honor’s student he used to loathe and tease Mark mercilessly about before and is now looking more and more like, well, _Mark_ \- Donghyuck’s Mark. The one he gets to see in the street and their sheets. “It’s our last year and I’m tired of hiding. Tired of hiding my music and tired of hiding my lo-”

But he also doesn’t get to finish his statement, interrupted like Donghyuck before by Donghyuck himself, who has unthinkingly made his way over to stand in front of him, behind the news table and in front of the camera. His eyes are as bright as his cheeks, complementing the pretty flush sweeping through Mark’s features, and his heart-shaped mouth matches the expression in his eyes as he looks down at Mark, still sitting in his seat.

Mark stares up at him, enraptured, as Donghyuck leans down to press their lips together.

They distantly register the sound of screaming, both from shocked cries within the room and from beyond the door, the walls seeming to shake around them. Donghyuck’s lips are gentle and moving with purpose, slow and sweet. Mark’s lips are soft and warm and surprisingly smooth, which Donghyuck begrudgingly owes to Jaemin’s persistent but clearly well-intentioned meddling. 

Mark sighs against his lips, and Donghyuck detaches himself to lean back and drop a quick peck to Mark’s cheek.

“Yes,” he says, voice breathy but firm with conviction. “The answer to your question, is yes.”

There’s the sound of obnoxious squealing, which is quickly cut off by a loud slapping noise. Donghyuck laughs, and Mark dissolves into giggles as well, light and airy and uninhibited. They stare into each other’s eyes, conveying through sight alone all the unsaid words they don’t need to say to believe, to know.

Finally, Mark grins. “Oh Hyuckie,” he sighs, uncharacteristically affectionate. “We’re gonna be in so much trouble.”

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

The trouble is that they nearly get banned from prom. The school administration is willing to overlook Mark’s impromptu takeover at the end of announcements, but the on-air PDA and the subsequent chaos that it caused amongst the entire student body, rivaling a small earthquake in an area that clearly doesn’t have that problem, was a bit much. 

They still miraculously get let off, however, because the admins will always have a soft spot for the two brightest students in their class, each standing out for entirely different but equally valid reasons.

Jeno asks Jaemin to prom - no fuss, no fanfare, and certainly no garish, glittery signs. And yet, Jaemin still bawls like a baby.

Mark gets them matching cufflinks while Donghyuck orders the corsages, all in a lovely shade of pale pink which contrasts nicely against their crisp, midnight black suits.

Mark picks Donghyuck up, the both of them trying to leave quickly, but they’re immediately descended upon by both sets of parents and forced into a furious picture-taking flurry until their moms start running out of phone storage.

They finally arrive at the venue, walking in fashionably late, ogled by admirers and strangers alike. Even Renjun sidles up to greet them, not a hint of deviousness in his usual cunning eyes.

Jaemin materializes out of thin air in a flash of attention-grabbing white, a dapper Jeno clad in muted gray at his side. They wrangle Mark and Donghyuck onto the dance floor, just in time to launch into an enthusiastic rendition of the Cha-Cha slide.

Chenle bounces up to them at one point, asking Mark about his SoundCloud alter ego as Jisung hangs off to the side, standing awkwardly, until Donghyuck reaches over and pulls him (quite unwillingly) into an impromptu dance-off. Despite his lanky frame and quiet demeanor, the junior ends up easily wiping the floor with them all.

The lights suddenly pop on, their principal stepping out onto a small stage to beam at the crowd, announcing that it’s finally time to crown the prom court. Donghyuck waggles his eyebrows suggestively at Mark, who blushes and bats at him fondly.

To no one’s surprise, Mark wins prom king. Already a sure thing before, he’d cemented his status as the top of their school when everyone realized that he was also the local rap legend they’d been gossiping about for years. In a way, his public confession had not only won over his boyfriend, but also the hearts of the entire school if not the entire community.

Donghyuck is cheering so hard that he misses his own name being called next, jerking in confusion when hands (probably Jaemin’s) start pushing him roughly to the front of the room, Jeno trailing along behind them. To his great surprise, but apparently no one else’s, this year’s prom court consists of two kings. The crowd erupts into a deafening roar when he ambles through it, parting to make way for him and his small entourage.

He’s pushed right to the stairs at the bottom of the stage and nearly hoisted onto the first step, Jaemin and Jeno motioning enthusiastically for him to make his way up. Mark beams down at him from where he’s standing, holding a crown in his hands similar to the one already sparkling in his dark locks under the blinding lights.

“I don’t understand,” Donghyuck says, eyeing the cheering crowd in increasing confusion as he joins Mark at his side, Mark sliding the bedazzled plastic into his hair. “How did this happen?”

Mark shrugs, but there’s a knowing twinkle in his eyes that belies his casualness. “We may or may not have leveraged our executive power to make some changes to the voting system.”

Donghyuck gasps, hand flying up to his heart dramatically. “Student body president and resident ‘Golden Boy’ Mark Lee, breaking the rules of our sacred institution?!”

Mark scoffs. “You don’t always have to be the ‘Drama King,’ you know.”

Donghyuck grins. “Well, I’d say that this crown makes me royalty, indeed” he says, petting said crown reverently. 

Mark smiles, eyes soft. “You never needed a crown to be royal, to know you’re special, both in your eyes and everyone else’s. I could never compete with that.”

“Um, excuse me but I’m not the one with millions of people in love with me online.”

Mark shakes his head. “I don’t need millions of people to be in love with me online, only one in real life.”

Donghyuck gulps, willing down the blush threatening to creep up his neck and into his cheeks at Mark’s words, dropping his head to Mark’s shoulder. He sighs, suddenly nostalgic. “You know, I used to think you were the bane of my high school career. But now that I think about it, you _were_ my high school career, the center of so many of my memories here. Not always pleasant, especially in those early years, but as constant and aggravating as the homework our teachers would bury us under.”

Mark laughs, and Donghyuck feels fingers touch gently under his chin, bringing his face up until they’re face-to-face, only a breath apart. 

“I don’t know what it’s like to not feel strongly about you, either,” Mark says, voice soft. “Hate, for so long, but it was never really hate. Love, now, but also so much more than that. You’re not just my high school career, Hyuck, you’re my forever.”

And Donghyuck can see in Mark’s eyes, shining bright and not because of the stage lights, that he means it.

He wraps his arms around Mark’s shoulders, Mark’s hands automatically moving to grip his waist. A pointed cough comes from the side of the stage, which they both ignore. 

“Say,” Donghyuck whispers, tilting his head in invitation. “What was it that you were so tired of hiding, again?”

He feels more than sees the smile against his face, the soft exhale of amusement and the slightest brush of lips against his.

The words get lost in the cheers of the crowd, but Donghyuck hears them anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> \- If you thought you recognized some of the lyrics it’s bc they’re straight lifted from the official MH anthem aka Baby Don’t Like It (except the last few lines ofc, plz don’t sue me Mark Lee)


End file.
